Feng Yiren woke up with a twisting pain in her head. Nothing about the room she was in seemed familiar to her at all. Nor did she remember what happened the night before leading up to her waking up in that room.
"Where.. Am… I?" She mumbled, her soft tone only audible to her. She barely could find the energy to pull herself up. The warmth of the bed she was in completely conquered her.
But she knew she had to still get up somehow. Her mother, Shi Qian, had strongly educated her not to spend the night away from home and even when she was a thousand miles away from home, she wouldn't defy her mother's rules. She was that obedient daughter of her mother that often got teased by her older brothers.
She had come a long way to the city to pursue her studies, but she would have given up anything to be back with her family. Her father was probably away again on another assignment, while her mother and younger brother were at home in the countryside. Her two elder brothers lived elsewhere, having had their own families.
Two more years. Then she would graduate and get a good job to support her family, she promised. But now, she had to get herself out of that strange room. It wouldn't sound well for a university student to be caught spending the night in a hotel, she decided.
A sudden cough caught her attention, almost causing her to tumble off the bed. A mop of dark brown hair, silky as it could ever be, surfaced from the duvet blanket. A shiver descended her spine rapidly. To think, she wasn't alone in that room, but she had spent the night in bed with a stranger she didn't remember. Had she…
Yiren couldn't think of the possibility that she had even slept with a stranger. She feared the worst: that she would get pregnant, have AIDS or lose her scholarship. Also, her mother would disown her for bringing shame to the Feng family.
"Good morning. I see you are awake."
In a flash, the man was standing over her with a stony expression on his face. But it was his looks that had enamoured her, cold or not. Yiren had never seen a man with looks as handsome as the handsome stranger in the room. Man, he was gorgeous! For a second, she thought she wouldn't mind being shackled to this man.
"Yes, I…" she stammered. Their eyes met for a long second. She knew she had been staring at him for a long time because the man batted his eyelids and smirked.
"So? Are you going to take responsibility, or not?"
Yiren almost choked on her saliva. Yes, she would, but it seemed too good to be real! Immediately she pinched herself to find out she was not dreaming. His dark brown hair, muscular figure and tall height made him seem like a prince from a fairytale. A modern fairytale, that was.
"Pardon me?" She said, acting as ignorant as she could ever be. She had to be dreaming, because these days, which man would ever ask a woman to take responsibility, even if it was a one-night stand? It was 2019 after all.
She pinched herself again and flinched from the extra pain. It turned out she wasn't dreaming after all, but everything before her seemed so unreal.
"Maybe this will help you remember," the man's icy voice perturbed her.
Huh?
Without warning, Mr Icy pressed down on her and firmly touched her lips with his stiff lips. Her heart skipped a beat.
No, this could not be happening!
She restrained herself as the man released her, retreating under the covers to hide her blushing cheeks. It was the first time a man had ever kissed her. She was melting from the surge of emotions inside her. But apart from the embarrassment, Yiren realised there was something more.
She felt a sense of deja vu. It was like this was not the first time they had met. But nothing in her mind rang a bell about the man. She had to have known him from somewhere, but where?
"I'll give you some time to decide."
"Wait, what is going on?"
"Don't you remember?" the man replied coldly. She stared up at him. He was at least six feet tall, making her feel small in his presence. Yet, she could not help feeling attracted to him. She didn't know what to expect by falling into his trap. If this was a scam, what did she even have to lose?
Just a few years ago, her father had lost his fortune to his brother. From a wealthy family, it reduced to a low-income family. If not for the scholarship, she would have not even bothered to go to university. Fortunately, her father got a job as a mechanic and she sent most of her allowance back home.
She got some income from publishing her online novel, Blossoms in Winter. Blossoms in Winter was a web series that gathered hundreds of readers over three months. The income she received from Xiandai Xiaoshuo, which whom she published her books, was minor, but it was the satisfaction from having readers and the passion she had for writing that kept her happy and motivated to work with them.
In return, a few book platforms offered her a contract to publish her future books with them. She was a little hesitant since she liked the readers on her original platform.
Could it be, that Mr Icy was one of her avid readers? She looked at the man who was still standing where he was. His facial expression never changed, no matter how he moved about the room.
"Don't you remember?"
"Have we met before, Mister?"
She gazed up at him with an innocent and surprised expression that made his lips curl into a smile. His smile turned out to be the most enticing she had ever seen.
"Xiao Feng, it is payback time."
"Payback?"
He wiped away his smile and looked at her brazenly.
"Xiao Feng, it's time you repaid me for a thousand years of reincarnation."
His words just puzzled her further. What did he mean by reincarnation?
Before she could say a word, a loud knock on the door interrupted them.